Did you notice that we started a Kids program at the Fort? Yep, that's right! It's the CrossFit Fire Little Flames program, and it started yesterday. The cost is $75 for an 8 week session, and only $60 for the session for each additional sibling. Check the schedule for a list of dates. If you missed the first week don't worry - we'll pro-rate you for a 7 week session if you'd like to get started next week.

Our Team Saturday workout was:

Saturday night was also our 3rd annual Fort thanksgiving. We had some great food, lots of bacon wrapped dates and some even more amazing conversation. Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated this very special time of the year with us. I'm thankful for each and every one of you!

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I love hearing stories about Black Friday shopping. There's something so funny about people fighting in the aisles at WalMart over animated Elmo dolls.

For some of you, your day started with a 7 hour AMRAP of credit card swipes followed by this little number:

5 rounds for time:
15 kettlebell swings
200m run

Everyone did great on this workout! We managed to get everyone through in one heat, and that always makes it so much fun. KTUCK is still kicking some serious butt despite the fact that her beautiful belly is peeking out from the bottom of her shirt these days! Matt Bean was visiting us and he was surprised to find himself behind KTUCK on the last run. He told her after the WOD, "I was going to make a charge at you right at the end there, but I didn't have the energy". Way to represent, KTUCK!

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I don't think it's possible to have more fun than we had on Wednesday night! Thank you to everyone who came out and sang, danced and laughed with us! There were some amazing musical performances and some even more amazing dance moves. We are hoping to make karaoke night a more regular occurrence, maybe once a month? Good times you guys....good times.

In case you're wondering what you missed, here's a quick run down:

Deena and Tiffany sang about 6 duets. I'm pretty sure they bribed the karaoke guy.

Alex and Neil sang some Sir Mix A Lot, and then Neil serenaded us with "You've lost that lovin' feeling". It was his very first time singing karaoke, and he did great!

Bill and Tiffany sang a little "summer lovin"

Ryan amazed all of us with his contest winning vocals!

Sammi took home a gold medal in enthusiasm and stage performance. She also makes amazingly good rock star faces.

Bret Michaels/Axle Rose was there, and so was Steven Segal. It was true karaoke at its finest!

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At first glance of the whiteboard you may have thought Wednesday’s WOD was our home-girl ‘Fran.’ Nope, instead it was her NASTY cousin ‘Francesca’ visiting for Thanksgiving!

21-15-9 reps of:
Push Press (50/35)
Pull-ups

I heard the push presses were a touch heavy. I want to give a shout out to Dean for pushing himself through this prescribed. He actually even stepped it up and completed this WOD with chest to bar pullups! Can you say BEAST?!

Drew totally flew through this WOD and finished in just over 3 minutes. It was the fastest time we saw all day. Way to get after it buddy!

Who’s ready for MORE turkey, and yummy paleo side dishes? I know I am! Come join all of your fellow CrossForters at the Old Kitchen Mill in McHenry for our Fort Thanksgiving this Saturday. If you haven’t RSPV’d please do so, right here. See you all there!

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Why not celebrate our 45 degree November weather with a little run!? The workout yesterday was:

How'd you like those brisk runs? You guys all did GREAT on this workout. It was great to be back from our getaway and see everyone. A HUGE thanks to Zach, Josh and Steph for holding things down while we were away.

We have some new CrossForters coming out of ramp-up. Congratulations to Cris, JoeAnn, Karri, Doreen, Karen and Matt for finishing ramp-up last night! Rumor has it, Matt is making a run at RTL's pull-up record!

Speaking of records, Drew did 70 push-ups in a minute, and Tiffany did 18! Nice work you guys!

In another piece of exciting news, George got his first muscle-up yesterday! He stayed after class practicing and his persistence paid off!

Reminder - tonight is Karaoke night at Corkscrew Pointe in McHenry. Be there at 8PM for the fun! Also, we will be having 9AM classes both Thanksgiving day and Black Friday. Hope to see you there!

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During the strength yesterday we played with handstand holds. Some of us were perched on a box, against the wall, or free standing. No matter which version of the handstand hold you did I am proud of your willingness to hangout upside down! When working with handstands either in strength or a WOD remember to keep your core tight and have “active shoulders.” I loved the competitiveness the strength brought out in Amie and Andy yesterday. Amie was determined to beat Andy in a handstand hold. But, to Andy’s dismay she did in fact hold out longer than him! Way to go Amie! GIRL POWER!

The WOD yesterday was:
3 Rounds of:
15 Box Jumps (30/24)
30 Anchored Sit-ups

The taller box jumps and anchored sit-ups really engaged our hips throughout the entire WOD. Whoa, can you say hip burner? I am so proud of Casey for stepping up during the WOD and using a higher box than normal. Atta girl! You'll quickly conquer the 24" in a WOD, I can feel it!

I want to give a BIG welcome to our recent ramp-up graduates! Six new members took over the 6pm class and officially completed ramp-up. Each and every one of you did an awesome job and we look forward to seeing ALL of your smiling faces in group classes.

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Hi everyone! Greetings from the frozen land of Door County! We're enjoying our little weekend away despite the fact that we are without heat. Brady slept with his winter hat on last night.

I have a few  announcements - the first is Paleo Thanksgiving. We have finalized a location and a date, so make sure you put it on your calendars! The Saturday after Thanksgiving we'll be having our annual feast at Old Mill Kitchen Design in McHenry. Please RSVP through the events page.

We also have our Surviving the Holidays nutrition discussion scheduled for Monday night at 7PM. This will be about a 45 minute discussion on how you can make a safe passage from Thanksgiving through Christmas without adding inches to your waist.

I'm also excited to announce that we will be adding a "Little Flames" kids class! This class will be Saturdays at 10AM for kids 6-12yrs old, and it will run in 8 week sessions. More info to come!

Last but not least (and my personal favorite) is Karaoke night. Corkscrew Pointe in McHenry will be having their monthly karaoke night on Wednesday, November 23rd. I would love to get a group together and go sing our faces off! I'm not sure what time it starts, but I'll keep you posted.

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